William H. Parker (1826-1896) was president from 1875 to 1882. Parker was a
New Yorker who had been first in his class at the Naval Academy, served as
captain in the Confederate navy, and founded the Confederate Naval Academy
in Richmond.

He came to the College as professor of mathematics at the same time that
Samuel Jones came as president, and the two worked
closely together until Jones's departure. Parker then continued a program
virtually identical to that of Jones which was equally unpopular.

The state legislature pressured him by denying state aid in 1882, and Parker
responded by resigning. Four years later, he served briefly in Korea as Minister Resident/Consul General for the United States. Parker also authored several books, Recollections of a Naval Officer, 1841-1865, which he wrote while president of the college.